After decades of statelessness, the Benet community in Uganda are struggling to survive and access basic services like education and health care.<\/p>\n
By Tukundane Yonna in Mount Elgon, Uganda<\/p>\n
Moses Mwanga Kapchekwengu sits on an old rocking chair outside his home in the Mount Elgon region in Uganda. The 77-year-old was the first person in his village to attend primary school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to school by accident,\u201d he says with a wry smile.<\/p>\n
He recalls how he felt, as a young boy, seeing children dressed in school uniforms for the first time. He had gone to a local market with his mother so she could barter handmade bamboo baskets for food.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fascinated by the uniform they wore. It was beautiful, and I wanted one for myself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He dreamed of going to school but didn\u2019t have a birth certificate. Without it, his mother couldn\u2019t register him for classes. Moses comes from the Benet, an indigenous community who have lived in the Mount Elgon region for centuries. The Benet are stateless. Many have no legal identity papers and no proof of their citizenship.<\/p>\n
When Moses turned 13, his mother took him to live with distant relatives from a different community in the hopes that he would get an education. They adopted him, which meant he was finally able to go to school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt I had achieved something as a child for a community that was largely excluded. I became an inspiration to many young people who dreamt of going to school,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing stateless affects us so much.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n There are about 12,000 Benet people in Uganda. They are pastoralists and hunter-gatherers. In the 1930s, the former colonial government excluded them as one of Uganda\u2019s indigenous communities. After Uganda\u2019s independence in 1962, the Benet were left out of the constitution and were not included in new amendments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used to live in the moorlands and other communities used to live in the grasslands,\u201d Moses says. \u201cWhen the British came, they gazetted the whole area into a forest reserve and that\u2019s where our problems began. We immediately became landless,\u201d Moses explains.<\/p>\n Statelessness has had a devastating impact on the community. There are no schools, hospitals or other essential services in the area. Roads are underdeveloped. The nearest towns are hundreds of kilometres away.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be recognized as citizens of the country because being stateless affects us so much,\u201d Moses says. \u201cWhen it comes to decision-making, we are not at the table. We feel forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n After school, he trained as a teacher and returned home to help his community. Moses is an activist who is championing change for his people, but challenges remain. Without schools, children miss out on an education. Many Benet also live in poverty. They can\u2019t get jobs or even start businesses.<\/p>\n Like Moses, David Mande wants to change the plight of the Benet. He is the coordinator of the Benet Indigenous Ethnic Minority Group, a community organization that advocates for their rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel a lot of agony,\u201d says David. \u201cSometimes I may desire to access services from a financial institution, say a bank loan, but I cannot because I don\u2019t have a national ID. Sometimes, I feel like flying like others do but I cannot even access a passport.\u201d<\/p>\n